How we breathe is how we think!

I will also say that how we breathe is how we live.

I’ll first open up the path from thinking to living. How we think reflects what choices and decisions we make and don’t make. Our choices and decisions reflect how we live. How we live reflects what our life looks like.

So, how we think is how we live.

But in what way breathing is braided into all of this?

How we breathe changes our nervous system which changes our endocrine system, our glands and hormones. Our endocrine system changes our blood biochemistry which changes how we feel and how our brain function. How our brain functions affect how we think. So, how we breathe is how we think and live.

I’ll open it up for more clarity.

Each emotion has its own breathing pattern. We can look at it like this: on one hand there is breathing and on the other there is an emotion. They both are connected by nervous system that sends signals in either directions. That means, how we feel changes how we breathe and by consciously changing how we breathe we can change how we feel. That’s of course simplified explanation.

Emotions Are Chemical.

Emotions are basically endocrine system in action. Hormones secreted by our glands have different message and meaning to different parts of our body. They make our organs, musculature and body tissue to relax, contract or shut down. That creates physiological sensations in or body. Those sensations, we as a society, have defined as emotions and gut feelings.

For example, adrenaline and cortisol in big quantities (meaning high stress) make our musculature to tense up but shut down digestive system, immune system, and analytical thinking to name a few. Oxytocin make our musculature to relax but activate digestion, immune system, and opens up creative thinking.

Breath As A Gateway.

On the other hand we have breathing. Breathing is only system in our body that we can control consciously and willingly. But we can also forget about it and allow the body to do the breathing for us, while we are busy living. That’s breathing subconsciously.

We mostly breath subconsciously through most of our days and especially during the nights. We take roughly 20 000 – 23 000 breaths in 24 hours.

Every time we feel emotion or physical sensation our breathing changes. Mostly we are never aware of this. It’s automatic and subconscious mechanism.

But when we start consciously breathing in certain ways we can activate or relax our nervous system. We can change gland function, speed up or slow down heart rate, and increase or decrease blood pressure. And those will affect how we feel.

When we breathe in an activating way our body moves into state of stress and when we breathe in relaxing way our body moves into relaxedness and presence.

Creating Change – Breathwork.

Breathwork session guided with knowledgeable bodywork enables not just to start making changes in our nervous system. But it also enables to open, expand, and change our subconscious breathing patterns. When we change our breathing on subconscious level it will bring change to how we feel, think and live.

Conclusion.

So, our breath reflects what state we are, or more precisely, our nervous system is. How we breathe defines how we feel, think, and live.

But more important is that we can start creating change in how we feel, think, and function just by breathing consciously. With conscious breathing we can start creating more balance and harmony in our bodies, minds and life in general.

Breathwork, in this sense is just a tool, but a really effective tool. It’s a shortcut to bringing change into our lives.

What tools do you use to regulate your emotions?

What’s your favourite, to go to, breathing practice and why?

What is your experience with breathwork or any other breathing practice?

How have those helped you to live a better life?